Kicking off its inaugural year of the program, ACH Seeds Crystal Brand Sugarbeet Seed’s Homegrown Giving initiative made its first $10,000 donation to the Ubly chapter of Future Farmers of America (FFA).
The program, which receives nominations from the local communities in the Great Lakes region of Michigan, was started to help advance charitable organizations and agriculture in sugar beet communities.
With many of the Ubly FFA members having family in the industry, the nomination of the organization was obvious to local grower Craig Gentner, who cited the hard work of Ubly’s FFA advisor, Melissa Kramer, as to the organization’s success and well-deserved nomination. Kramer says that the donation will be applied to building costs of their school barn, with the plan for students to raise broiler chickens, sheep, and goats, as well as some crops in the school’s greenhouse, to provide food to local families in need.
Ubly FFA serves and works with 155 students across the thumb counties of Sanilac, Tuscola and Huron. ACH Seeds hopes to expand the program next year by including six more customer regions, so that a total of 7 regional non-profits receive a $10,000 award.
To qualify for the program, the organization must be a non-profit with organizational need, aligns with ACH Seeds’ values and services, and is committed to local agriculture. For more information about the program, visit homegrowngiving.com.
